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Classic Pot Roast Chicken
December 19, 2015 Lee
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Classic Pot Roast Chicken

This is a typical chicken pot roast. Can be cooked in a slow cooker as well, just adjust the cooking time.
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Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 30 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 40 minutes
Course Main Dish
Cuisine American
Servings 4 people

Ingredients
  

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 1/2 kilo whole chicken, cleaned, head, neck, and feet removed
  • 1 onion, sliced
  • 2 cloves garlic, smashed and chopped
  • 2 carrots, sliced
  • 300 grams baby potatoes, OR regular potatoes in large chunks
  • 1 lemon, only the juice is needed
  • 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
  • 1 cube chicken stock, optional, OR use the powdered stock
  • 1 cup water
  • salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions
 

  • Pat the whole chicken dry with a paper towel.
  • Heat olive oil in a large, heavy based pot then place the whole chicken into the pot and brown the skin well on all sides, turning it over as needed until the skin is a good golden brown color. Remove the chicken from the pot and set aside.
  • Place the sliced onions into the pot and fry until golden brown, then add the carrots and garlic and fry for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  • Return the chicken to the pot, breast side up on top of the vegetables.
  • Squeeze the lemon juice over the chicken and sprinkle with rosemary. Add the stock together with the water and arrange the baby potatoes around the edge of the pot. Sprinkle a pinch of salt and pepper, to taste, on top of the chicken.
  • Cover the pot tightly with a lid or thick aluminum foil and allow to cook for 1 1/2 hours or until the chicken is cooked through and the vegetables are tender. You can turn the chicken over half-way through cooking. The internal temp you are looking for when measured with a meat thermometer is 82 C / 180 F when checked at the thickest part of the thigh without touching the bone.
  • Remove the chicken from the pot once cooked and allow to rest for a few minutes before carving. Serve with green beans and rice or potatoes.

Notes

A whole chicken will run about 140 Baht/kilo, a 1.5 kilo chicken will be about 210 Baht. For 4 people this would be about $1.60 per serving, and for 6 people, this would be about $1.05 per serving. Overall, a good price for a good meal.
For the neck, gizzard, heart, and liver, boil them up for a quick snack for yourself or for your dog.
Provided courtesy of good friend, Denise Georgiades.
South Africa.
* Fair Value $1.01 to $1.50 per Serving,CHICKEN & TURKEY
Cottage Cheese Chicken Enchiladas
December 18, 2015 Lee
1 Comment

Cottage Cheese Chicken Enchiladas

Adapted from an internet recipe.
These are excellent enchiladas. This is not a low cost meal, but if using all home made ingredients, you save some money. Links to the shortcuts are listed in the Recipe Notes section.
5 from 2 votes
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Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 1 hour
Course Main Dish
Cuisine Tex-Mex
Servings 6 people

Equipment

  • Oven
  • Baking Pan (9x13 inch)

Ingredients
  

  • 3 chicken breasts, boneless and skinless, or 6 thighs
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 onion, small, diced
  • 2-3 fresh green chili peppers, seeded and chopped
  • 1 packet taco seasoning mix, Shortcut
  • ½ cup sour cream, Shortcut
  • 2 cups Cottage cheese, Shortcut
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 pinch black pepper
  • 12 corn tortillas, 6 inch
  • 2 cups Monterey Jack cheese, shredded, or Cheddar cheese
  • 1 can enchilada sauce, Shortcut

Instructions
 

  • Boil the breasts or thighs until cooked, allow to cool then shred, discarding any skin and bones.
  • To make the meat mixture: heat oil in medium skillet over medium high heat. Add chicken, onion and green chile peppers and saute until browned, then add taco seasoning and cook according to package directions.
  • To make cheese mixture: in a medium bowl mix sour cream with cottage cheese and season with salt and pepper; stir until well blended.
  • Preheat your oven to 180° C (350° F). Lightly grease a 9x13 inch baking pan with butter.
  • To assemble: heat tortillas until soft. In each tortilla place a spoonful of meat mixture, a spoonful of cheese mixture and a bit of shredded cheese. Roll tortillas and place seam side down in the prepared baking dish. Top with any remaining meat and cheese mixture, enchilada sauce, and remaining shredded cheese.
  • Bake for 30 minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbly.
  • Serve with beans on the side and additional cheese if desired.

Notes

Boneless and skinless chicken breasts run about 87 Baht/kilo. For this recipe, 3 might set you back about 80 Baht. For the tortillas, I do not have a price on that, what I use was brought here from Phuket so I have no idea about the cost, considering that, I would say the cost per serving is about $1.50 to $2, max. Make the cottage cheese and seasoning packets yourself and save a lot of money as well.
Shortcuts: Taco Seasoning, Cottage Cheese, Enchilada Sauce, Sour Cream.
Variant: 1. Use flour tortillas in place of corn tortillas. 
#1 Go-To Recipes,* High Cost $1.51+ per Serving,CHICKEN & TURKEY,TEX-MEX, sort of
Easy Refried Beans (Slow Cooker)
December 17, 2015 Lee
2 Comments

Easy Refried Beans (Slow Cooker)

Adapted from an internet recipe.
Use as a side dish or as a filling for burritos, these are excellent beans.
5 from 3 votes
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Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 8 hours
Total Time 8 hours 5 minutes
Course Side
Cuisine Tex-Mex
Servings 10 people

Equipment

  • Slow Cooker

Ingredients
  

  • 500 grams Pinto beans, dry, sorted, and rinsed, (1 lb)
  • 1 onion, peeled, cut in half
  • 6 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1¾ teaspoons black pepper
  • ½ teaspoon cumin
  • 8 cups water
  • salt, to taste

Instructions
 

  • Place the rinsed dry beans, onion, pepper, cumin. and garlic in your slow cooker.
  • Pour in the water and stir to combine. Cook on High for 8 hours, adding more water as needed. Note: if more than 1 cup of water has evaporated during cooking, then the temperature is too high.
  • Once the beans are cooked, strain them and reserve the liquid, slightly mash, it will not take much, add reserved liquid from cooking for desired consistency. (I like to lightly mash just 2 or 3 cups of beans and mix that in with the remaining drained beans.)
  • Serve as a side dish or fill burritos and top with burrito (taco) sauce and loads of grated Cheddar cheese.

Notes

Used in Recipe Listed on this Site:
 
#1 Go-To Recipes,Sides - Slow Cooker
Enchilada Sauce Mix
December 9, 2015 Lee
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Enchilada Sauce Mix

Adapted from an internet recipe.
Finding Enchilada Sauce packets can be a challenge unless one is in a big city. So I checked on the internet and came up with this, works great! This makes the equivalent of what 1 packet makes.
Print Recipe
Servings 1 packet

Ingredients
  

  • 2 teaspoons chili powder
  • 2 teaspoons paprika
  • 2 teaspoons corn starch
  • 1 teaspoon onion powder
  • 1 teaspoon cumin
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • ½ teaspoon oregano
  • ½ teaspoon corriander
  • 1½ cups water
  • 170 grams tomato paste, this the really small can

Instructions
 

  • In a small sauce pan, add all the ingredients and simmer on low heat, and whisk to combine until thickened. Use as recipe requires.

Notes

Used in Recipes Listed on this Site:
Ingredients - Spice Mixes
Navy Bean Soup
December 4, 2015 Lee
1 Comment

Navy Bean Soup

A slow cooker requires less water than a stockpot. Water condensation forms on the lid of the slow cooker and returns the water back into the pot. To adapt this recipe to a stockpot, use 8 cups of water instead of 6. The final texture of the soup is a matter of preference. Serve it just as it is without pureeing any of it, or purée until completely smooth, or anything in-between I would recommend a least a light purée since the smashed beans help thicken the broth. Crockpots come in all different sizes. A small one wouldn’t be big enough to hold the contents of this recipe. Mine is oblong and measures 11 inches across. I filled it to the brim with the ham bone, beans and vegetables and could only get about 6 1/2 cups of water in. Of course, the ham bone takes up a lot of space but I formulated the recipe for a slow cooker because that’s the way so many folks, including myself, like to cook soups. I prefer my stockpot over my slow cooker if I’m making a batch big enough to feed the county and I need a bigger size cooking vessel than the slow cooker offers.
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Prep Time 1 day
Cook Time 12 hours
Total Time 1 day 12 hours
Course Main Dish
Cuisine American
Servings 6 people

Ingredients
  

  • 500 grams dry Navy Beans, OR Great Northern Beans, soaked overnight and drained
  • 1 meaty ham bone, OR one ham hock or pork knuckle
  • 1 onion, diced
  • 3 carrots, diced
  • 3 stalks celery, including tops, diced
  • 3 cloves garlic, smashed and minced
  • handful fresh parsley, trimmed and chopped
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • 6-7 cups water

Instructions
 

  • Place ham bone in slow cooker and add onion, carrots, celery, garlic, parsley, and bay leaf.
  • Add soaked and drained beans. Sprinkle salt over beans. Cover beans with as much water as you can fit in cooker.
  • Cook on Low for 12 hours or High for 8 to 10 hours or until beans and vegetables are tender. Add more water if necessary.
  • Remove bay leaf and soup bone when soup is done.
  • Puree about 1/3 of the soup mixture by using an immersion blender or transferring to a blender or food processor. Or, you can just use a potato masher and mash it around a bit until part of the soup is pureed.
  • Remove ham from bone, dice and add back to soup.
  • Taste for seasoning and adjust.

Notes

Beans would run about 135 Baht for 500 grams. The ham bone can come from another meal, unrelated to the cost here, or you can add a ham hock or pork knuckle (pork knuckle would be excellent in this dish!) that would add another 100 to 200 Baht. Going with the beans and a ham hock, the total would be 235 Baht. That is about $1.20 per meal per person for 6 people. Not bad at all and nutritious as well. Serve with a corn bread on the side for a complete meal. If you use a ham bone from a previous meal, that reduces the cost a lot.
Provided courtesy of good friend, Garland Davis, US Navy Cook (Ret).
United States.
* Fair Value $1.01 to $1.50 per Serving,Soups, Stews, Chili - Slow Cooker
Creamy Caesar Dressing
December 3, 2015 Lee
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Creamy Caesar Dressing

Adapted from an internet recipe.
Sounds like a tasty dressing, on my to make and taste list.
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Prep Time 5 minutes
Total Time 5 minutes
Servings 0

Ingredients
  

  • ¾ cup Italian dressing, bottled type
  • 1 tablespoon Parmesan cheese, grated
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • â…“ cup mayo
  • 1 teaspoon soy sauce

Instructions
 

  • Combine all ingredients with a whisk and refrigerate, use within one week.

Notes

Used in Recipes Listed on this Site:
Ingredients - Salad Dressings
Spanish Chorizo
December 3, 2015 Lee
1 Comment

Spanish Chorizo

Spanish Chorizo is a firm, drier sausage than Mexican Chorizo. A plate of Chorizo with a couple of sunny side up eggs on top, real hash browns on the side, makes me hungry! I made this on (cooked rather) the Chorizo on 19 Nov 2016, and it is excellent! Even got two thumbs up from my wife! I prepared the Chorizo on 17 Nov. Keep in mind this is not true Spanish Chorizo but a pretty good knock off in my opinion. The chorizo offered in some stores is Thailand will be of the Spanish type.
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Prep Time 1 day
Total Time 1 day
Course Breakfast
Cuisine Tex-Mex
Servings 4 people

Ingredients
  

  • 500 grams minced pork, (1 lb)
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 tablespoons chili powder, (4 tablespoons US chili powder, 2 tablespoons Thai chili powder)
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1/2 teaspoon oregano
  • 2 cloves garlic, pressed or finely minced
  • 2 tablespoons white vinegar

Instructions
 

  • Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl, cover and place in the fridge overnight. This photo is after it had been in the fridge for 1 half days, the smell is wonderful.
  • Form into patties or just crumble and fry.
  • When the Chorizo is cooked, drop in a few eggs.
  • Served.

Notes

Minced pork is about 110 Baht per kilo, 500 grams would be 55 Baht. Can easily make 4 servings from this for a cost of 40 cents per serving.
Used in Recipe Listed on this Site:
Chorizo Burgers with Cucumber Slaw,
Gouda Chorizo Jalapeno Poppers.
Adapted from an internet recipe.
#1 Go-To Recipes,* Best Value $1 or Less per Serving,Pork - Sausage
Honey Lime Dressing
December 3, 2015 Lee
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Honey Lime Dressing

Adapted from an internet recipe.
Sounds like a good dressing.
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Prep Time 5 minutes
Total Time 5 minutes
Servings 0

Ingredients
  

  • ¼ cup brown mustard
  • ¼ cup honey
  • 1½ teaspoons sugar, optional
  • 1 teaspoon sesame oil
  • 1½ teaspoons apple cider vinegar
  • 1½ teaspoons lime juice

Instructions
 

  • Blend all ingredients well, if you have an electric mixer, use that. Cover and chill before serving.
Ingredients - Salad Dressings
Creamy Chicken with Spring Vegetables
December 2, 2015 Lee
3 Comments

Creamy Chicken with Spring Vegetables

"This is another one of those go-to recipes. Something that I always used to make and have either as a side dish at dinner parties, or as a main course served over rice or boiled potato with a green salad on the side. Easily modified to your liking." -Denise. I made this on 5 Mar 2017, and wow is it good! Big hit with the Thai family as well, Thais like chicken, and they like vegetables, but in a creamy sauce, that was new to them, and they loved it! This is now on my Go-To list. This is a make with what you want recipe. Link to the shortcut is listed in the Recipe Notes section.
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Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Course Main Dish
Cuisine South African
Servings 3 servings

Ingredients
  

  • 500 grams chicken, breasts or thighs, skinless, boneless, cubed
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 5 spring onions, chopped
  • 1 red bell pepper, diced, or any vegetables you like
  • 100 grams fresh mushrooms
  • 1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup, OR make from a shortcut
  • 1 cup milk
  • 1 teaspoon chives, chopped, or use the green ends of a spring onion

Instructions
 

  • Brown chicken in a splash of olive oil in a frying pan and drain off excess fat.
  • Blanch for about 2 minutes and vegetables like cauliflower, broccoli, asparagus, etc, before adding to the chicken.
  • Add spring onions, red pepper, and mushrooms and cook for 5 minutes. I just used Straw mushrooms when I prepared this. When the vegetables are blanched, drain those and add to the chicken.
  • Mix soup with 1 cup of milk and pour over browned chicken and vegetables, bring to a boil then reduce heat to a simmer, stirring quite often.
  • Simmer for about 10 minutes to thicken the sauce a bit, add chives and serve over rice or boiled potato.
  • My serving with some nice brown rice.

Notes

Chicken breasts will cost about 32 Baht/500 grams. For 3 servings this is about 32 cents per serving.
Shortcut: Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup.
Provided courtesy of good friend, Denise Georgiades.
South Africa.
#1 Go-To Recipes,* Best Value $1 or Less per Serving,CHICKEN & TURKEY
Grilled Tilapia
December 2, 2015 Lee
1 Comment

Grilled Tilapia

Rrayada Thayer, Thailand.
Tilapia is a very common freshwater food fish, it grows rapidly, lots of meat, and only a backbone and rib bones, no Y bones in the meat. This is inexpensive, we normally grill 1 fish per 2 people and have a side of just raw cut cabbage, cucumbers and spring onions and fresh cooked rice. We have made this at the house many many times. This recipe is for 1 whole fish for 2 people, more people, just add more fish, if you are a big fish eater, grill two for 2 people.
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Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Course Main Dish
Cuisine Thai
Servings 2 people

Equipment

  • Grill, Charcoal or Gas

Ingredients
  

  • 1 fish large tilapia, whole
  • lemon grass, fresh, several 3 inch pieces, smashed, see Step 2
  • ginger, fresh, and 1 inch piece, sliced thin, see Step 2
  • Kafir lime leaves, fresh, tear into several pieces, see Step 2
  • salt, lot of salt, like a bag of salt, see Step 3

Instructions
 

  • First thing you need to do is clean the fish, NO NEED to scale the fish, the salt will take care of that, just make a slit on the belly of the fish, or side, and remove entrails and wash out with clean water, remove the gills if leaving head on, if you wish to remove the head, no problem, do that now.
  • For the lemon grass, lime leaves, and ginger; if you buy the fish from an open fresh market, many times these will be included with the price of the fish, they are tied together and simply added to the bag with your fish. If you are buying the fish in say, Tesco, then you need these items on hand.
  • Stuff the cavity with the lemon grass, lime leaves, and ginger. Place in a large bowl.
  • Now for the salt, regular table salt is fine, if you can locate sea salt, that is fine, the salt is not for a flavoring of the meat, it is to remove the skin, salt is cheap, let the salt do the work, hence the reason not to scale the fish.
  • With the bag of salt, generously pour that over the fish in the bowl, you want to cover the fish in salt, spread it around with your hands as well, turn the fish over and repeat on the other side, you cannot have too much, you want the fish to be white.
  • With a hot grill, place the fish on the grill and cook about 8-10 minutes or so, then flip the fish over and cook the other side. It will get charred, that is the salt charring.
  • Take fish off from grill and place on a plate, at the table, using 2 forks, simply peel off the skin off and enjoy.

Notes

Tilapia runs about 60 Baht per fish, this is Blue Nile Tilapi. This would be $1 per meal per person for 1 fish, if you like fish and eat a whole one, then $2 per person, either way, a very economical meal. 
A note about the lemon grass, use several short pieces or one long, piece, either way smash it up good to let the flavor come out, if using a long piece, as in the photos, tie in a over hand knot after smashing.
* Best Value $1 or Less per Serving,5 Ingredients or Less,: THAI,FISH - ALL,Fish - Tilapia,GRILLED / BBQ / SMOKER